Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Firelands 2005 Isle St. George Merlot
Unlike the current weather in SE Michigan, I seem to be into a blizzard of blog posts. My in-laws came over for Christmas yesterday afternoon, and we shared a bottle of Firelands 2005 Isle St. George Merlot with dinner. I've never been a huge merlot fan (that's a story for another day), but I'm a convert with this wine. A dark luscious burgandy color, the big nose hits you with strong aromas of raspberries & cherries with faint hints of black pepper. The taste is soft and supple with a fruity initial taste of cherries, raisins, and faint cassis and ends with black pepper notes. If you want to taste a silky wine, this is it. 12.5% alcohol and I bought it at the winery in September for ~$13.
I've always been intrigued by the Firelands Winery. While home of Cedar Point and the ferry to the Bass Islands, I don't think of Sandusky, OH as being a huge tourist attraction, or a focal point for wine lovers. Yet, Firelands has done very well with a somewhat limited customer base in their immediate surroundings, and has become a tourist destination themselves. Their vineyard location on Isle St. George produces some very good grapes. I don't believe that they distribute their wines very widely beyond Ohio. At least, I do not see them in stores in the Detroit area. Lends hope that a winery just outside of Ann Arbor could be a successful endeavor.
This really should be the last post for 2006.
Regards,
a Wine Student
I've always been intrigued by the Firelands Winery. While home of Cedar Point and the ferry to the Bass Islands, I don't think of Sandusky, OH as being a huge tourist attraction, or a focal point for wine lovers. Yet, Firelands has done very well with a somewhat limited customer base in their immediate surroundings, and has become a tourist destination themselves. Their vineyard location on Isle St. George produces some very good grapes. I don't believe that they distribute their wines very widely beyond Ohio. At least, I do not see them in stores in the Detroit area. Lends hope that a winery just outside of Ann Arbor could be a successful endeavor.
This really should be the last post for 2006.
Regards,
a Wine Student
Monday, December 25, 2006
Black Star Farms Sirius Cherry Dessert Wine
You're probably first wondering who writes a blog at 8:00 AM on Christmas Day? Seriously, who does that?
Well, I guess I do! As usual, I have awakened before my darling wife and have some time to kill before breakfast and the present unwrapping, so I thought I'd get one last review written in 2006.
I served the Black Star Farms Sirius Cherry Dessert Wine at a dessert wine tasting party that I held last weekend. Popped the leftovers in the freezer and decided to indulge myself on Christmas Eve after enjoying a bottle of Argyle 2002 "Nuthouse" Pinot Noir from Oregon over supper. The Sirius Cherry really hit the spot at 10:00 last night--just the thing for a late night topper. This little 375 mL bottle packs a punch with 17% alcohol. A gorgeous dark burgandy color, you first get a big cherry and brandy nose (the folks at Black Star distill their own cherry brandy to fortify this wine). Tastes like you're drinking those sweet cherries that you can buy at the roadside farm stands around Traverse City. Sweet, but not overly so. With the engraved bottle, this would make a great present for wine drinkers on your gift list. I still have one more drink left in the bottle, maybe for breakfast....
I like the idea of incorporating various fruit wines into a winery's portfolio, especially since Michigan has such a bounty of fruit growers. A question for future winery visits--are fortified fruit dessert wines better sellers than unfortified fruit wines? I believe making wine with >15% alcohol requires a special license (with associated fees, etc). Is the added cost worth it?
Happy Holidays,
a Wine Student
Well, I guess I do! As usual, I have awakened before my darling wife and have some time to kill before breakfast and the present unwrapping, so I thought I'd get one last review written in 2006.
I served the Black Star Farms Sirius Cherry Dessert Wine at a dessert wine tasting party that I held last weekend. Popped the leftovers in the freezer and decided to indulge myself on Christmas Eve after enjoying a bottle of Argyle 2002 "Nuthouse" Pinot Noir from Oregon over supper. The Sirius Cherry really hit the spot at 10:00 last night--just the thing for a late night topper. This little 375 mL bottle packs a punch with 17% alcohol. A gorgeous dark burgandy color, you first get a big cherry and brandy nose (the folks at Black Star distill their own cherry brandy to fortify this wine). Tastes like you're drinking those sweet cherries that you can buy at the roadside farm stands around Traverse City. Sweet, but not overly so. With the engraved bottle, this would make a great present for wine drinkers on your gift list. I still have one more drink left in the bottle, maybe for breakfast....
I like the idea of incorporating various fruit wines into a winery's portfolio, especially since Michigan has such a bounty of fruit growers. A question for future winery visits--are fortified fruit dessert wines better sellers than unfortified fruit wines? I believe making wine with >15% alcohol requires a special license (with associated fees, etc). Is the added cost worth it?
Happy Holidays,
a Wine Student
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Wine Tasting Glasses--Smaller is Better
I recently stopped at a winery (no names to protect the innocent) and had a revelation. OK, this wasn't exactly the clouds parting and a booming voice from above, but something I wanted to archive into my memory for future reference. The glasses that they used for tasting appeared to be the standard multi-purpose wineglasses that one can buy at Bed, Bath & Beyond with the winery's name and logo etched on the side. Not a bad choice, except that the 1 oz pour looked really, really small in the relatively big bowl of the glass and the wine's aroma got lost, as well. I'm assuming that the glasses held about 13 oz of wine
Here's the revelation--there's a reason why CA wineries typically use a smaller 6 oz glass in their tasting rooms. A 1 oz pour looks like a big pour into the smaller bowl! The nose is able to nicely fill the bowl and it just makes for an enhanced wine-tasting experience. Spend the money and use the smaller glasses even if they are a special order item and more expensive.
Regards,
a Wine Student
p.s. Thanks, Sharon, for your comment on my last post. Made my day! Happy holidays to all!
Here's the revelation--there's a reason why CA wineries typically use a smaller 6 oz glass in their tasting rooms. A 1 oz pour looks like a big pour into the smaller bowl! The nose is able to nicely fill the bowl and it just makes for an enhanced wine-tasting experience. Spend the money and use the smaller glasses even if they are a special order item and more expensive.
Regards,
a Wine Student
p.s. Thanks, Sharon, for your comment on my last post. Made my day! Happy holidays to all!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Leelanau Cellars 2004 Reserve Late Harvest Johannisburg Riesling
Man, it's been awhile since my last post. To all of my loyal readers...oh, wait a minute... As far as I can tell, absolutely no one reads this thing. If by chance, someone actually reads this as you're stumbling wildly through cyberspace, take a brief moment of your time and send me a comment about one of the posts. Is the information amusing, interesting, helpful, boring, absolutely of no interest? I think you know which side of the spectrum I'd prefer to be on...
In the meantime, I'll continue to talk to myself.
Anyway, I recently hosted a dessert wine tasting party. To get the taste buds prepped and lubricated, I popped open a couple of rieslings--Bonny Doon's Pacific Rim Dry Riesling and Leelanau Cellars 2004 Reserve Late Harvest Johannisburg Riesling to give a dry and sweet contrast. Surprisingly, not a lot of people chose the Late Harvest, so I had plenty of opportunity to taste it the following day.
11% alcohol, RS 4.2%. This wine was cool fermented at 55 °C and then backsweetened with reserved clarified grape juice. A lovely, golden yellow color. The nose bursts with honey, rose, pineapple, melon, and pear aromas. Very silken taste with a clean, lightly sweet finish. Not overly strongly sweet. Light floral and citrus flavors that linger in the middle of the palate.
I was pleasantly surprised--I'm not a huge fan of sweet wines, but this was very pleasant. I enjoyed it over a couple of evenings (a vinuvac is the greatest invention in wine). It was excellently paired with an apple fragipane tart that I had made for the party. I was given this wine as a gift, but the website for Leelanau Cellars lists it as $11.00/bottle.
Regards,
a Wine Student
p.s. I had a good laugh at myself over the apple fragipane tart. I made a Cooking Light version that called for 12 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. I intended to double the recipe, so I bought 3 8 oz packages of cream cheese. I ended up with 4 oz from another recipe and found 4 oz in the freezer that my wife had left over. After throwing those both into the mixer, I added the remaining ingredients. It wasn't until the next day that I realized that I had made a Cooking Lighter version! Had completely forgotten to add the other 16 oz of cream cheese! The filling was a little flat--didn't fluff up as much as I expected. But it still tasted wonderful--got rave reviews from the party attenders!
My heart clenches a little when I think that the original recipe would have called for 3/4 of a lb of butter for the filling, not to mention the additional butter between the phyllo dough layers. I used canola oil cooking spray with a few swipes of melted butter for the phyllo dough to give it a little butter flavor.
In the meantime, I'll continue to talk to myself.
Anyway, I recently hosted a dessert wine tasting party. To get the taste buds prepped and lubricated, I popped open a couple of rieslings--Bonny Doon's Pacific Rim Dry Riesling and Leelanau Cellars 2004 Reserve Late Harvest Johannisburg Riesling to give a dry and sweet contrast. Surprisingly, not a lot of people chose the Late Harvest, so I had plenty of opportunity to taste it the following day.
11% alcohol, RS 4.2%. This wine was cool fermented at 55 °C and then backsweetened with reserved clarified grape juice. A lovely, golden yellow color. The nose bursts with honey, rose, pineapple, melon, and pear aromas. Very silken taste with a clean, lightly sweet finish. Not overly strongly sweet. Light floral and citrus flavors that linger in the middle of the palate.
I was pleasantly surprised--I'm not a huge fan of sweet wines, but this was very pleasant. I enjoyed it over a couple of evenings (a vinuvac is the greatest invention in wine). It was excellently paired with an apple fragipane tart that I had made for the party. I was given this wine as a gift, but the website for Leelanau Cellars lists it as $11.00/bottle.
Regards,
a Wine Student
p.s. I had a good laugh at myself over the apple fragipane tart. I made a Cooking Light version that called for 12 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. I intended to double the recipe, so I bought 3 8 oz packages of cream cheese. I ended up with 4 oz from another recipe and found 4 oz in the freezer that my wife had left over. After throwing those both into the mixer, I added the remaining ingredients. It wasn't until the next day that I realized that I had made a Cooking Lighter version! Had completely forgotten to add the other 16 oz of cream cheese! The filling was a little flat--didn't fluff up as much as I expected. But it still tasted wonderful--got rave reviews from the party attenders!
My heart clenches a little when I think that the original recipe would have called for 3/4 of a lb of butter for the filling, not to mention the additional butter between the phyllo dough layers. I used canola oil cooking spray with a few swipes of melted butter for the phyllo dough to give it a little butter flavor.
